A payment channel network is a blockchain-based overlay mechanism that allows parties to transact more efficiently than directly using the blockchain. These networks are composed of payment channels that carry transactions between pairs of users. Due to its design, a payment channel cannot sustain a net flow of money in either direction indefinitely. Therefore, a payment channel network cannot serve transaction requests arbitrarily over a long period of time. We give a brief overview of algorithms for pricing and routing in payment channel networks and contrast them with payment bridges. Then we introduce DEBT control, a joint routing and flow-control protocol that guides a payment channel network towards an optimal operating state for any steady-state demand. Based on joint work with Suryanarayana Sankagiri appearing in IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11096409
Prof. Bruce Hajek is a Center for Advanced Study Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hoeft Chair of Engineering, and Professor in the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has been on the faculty since 1979. He received a BS in Mathematics and MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Prof. Hajek's research interests include communication networks, auction theory, stochastic analysis, combinatorial optimization, machine learning, information theory, and bioinformatics. He served as Editor-in-Chief for the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, and as President of the IEEE Information Theory Society. He received the IEEE Kobayashi Award for Computer Communication and the ACM SIGMETRICS Achievement Award, and he is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering.